He gated back three paces.

She burst into tears. “I’m that repulsive.”

“The opposite. You won’t leave me alone and you are not repulsive and I’m grimly determined not to be that guy.”

“What guy?”

“The guy who thinks he’s a god and impregnates women left and right.”

“I’m on the pill, if that’s what worries you. And I know you don’t have AIDS so you don’t have to use a condom.”

“I can’t believe you said that,” said Danny.

She was back in front of him, fiddling with his zipper.

“What happened to ‘No means no’?” he said, removing her hands from his jeans.

“That’s so eighties,” she said. “I wasn’t even born then. And it’s about girls saying no, anyway.”

But he had no snappy retort, because in that moment he felt something that could not be real.

He felt somebody using the Wild Gate.

He knew it was that gate because there were a dozen of his own gates woven into it in one direction, two dozen in the other, so the feeling of gate-use was that much stronger.

Hermia and Veevee used gates often and he knew what that felt like. It was part of the background noise of his life—though it was far more noticeable now, since he’d been through a Great Gate himself. This, though. This was someone he didn’t know. And then another person. And another.

“Excuse me,” said Danny. “Something’s happening. Nothing to do with you. Got to go.”

“What’s wrong? You look—”

But he didn’t get to hear how he looked. He had already gated to the Silvermans’ barn.

There was no one there.

There was also no Wild Gate. Someone had moved it. And he hadn’t even felt it.

No, he had felt it. That’s part of what drew his attention to the use of the gate. Someone moved it and then people started using it.

Someone? There were only two gatemages in the world, besides Danny. Unless it was the Westilian kid that Loki had dropped off with the Silvermans.

Danny gated to the house. The boys were sitting in the living room. The younger one was playing a videogame. The older one was staring into space. Both here, nothing changed.

“Danny,” said Leslie. She stood in the doorway that led to the hall. “What’s wrong?”

“Somebody’s using the gate.” He didn’t need to specify which one.

“No!” said Leslie. “Nobody’s come in here!”

“Somebody moved this end of the gate,” said Danny. “It’s not in the barn anymore.”

“Hermia,” said Leslie.

“I didn’t know she could do it,” said Danny. “But who else? Veevee?”

“What are you going to do?”

“She’s already sending people through. Her Family, no doubt. So much for my two-from-each-Family rule.”